Animal Helpers for the Disabled (Watts Library) - Softcover

Reviewed with Deborah Kent's Athletes with Disabilities.

Gr. 5-7. These new volumes in the Watts Library--Disability series offer consistent, well-written introductions to the topics. Athletes presents many challenges, triumphs, and contributions of athletes past and present, and a history of sports events for athletes with disabilities. Information is effectively conveyed through clear, straightforward prose and accounts of individual athletes--from contemporary kids to well-known achievers such as Jean Driscoll, recent Boston Marathon women's wheelchair division winner. Kent also discusses the Americans with Disabilites Act. Sidebars expand the text; photos, including action shots, show various athletes. Animal Helpers offers a history of service animals, the training process, and how these helpers address individual needs. Accounts of animals at work demonstrate some truly amazing animal achievements. Sidebars and photos, which convey the deep bonds of the animal-human partnership, are used effectively here, too. A time line and a list of further resources are appended to each volume. These informative, often inspirational and thought-provoking books will be welcome additions to library collections. Shelle Rosenfeld
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Grade 4-7-A clear, easy-to-read book on dogs that help people. Kent defines many dog guides: assistance dogs (for the disabled), companion dogs (for the old), hearing dogs (for the deaf), and therapy dogs (for the emotionally disturbed). She describes the first school in the U.S. to train dog guides in 1929 in Nashville and mentions other dog-guide schools that have opened around the world. This is more useful for reports than Sally Hobart Alexander's Mom's Best Friend (Macmillan, 1992; o.p.) or Alice McGinty's Guide Dogs: Seeing for People Who Can't (PowerKids, 1999) because it includes a bit of history and information about training. Kent also mentions using horses and monkeys to help people but explains why dogs are best. Average-quality, black-and-white and full-color photos appear throughout showing the guides at work. An informative addition.
Linda Beck, Indian Valley Public Library, Telford, PA
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